Lara Raith
Lara Raith, also known as Lara Romany, is a vampire of the White Court, and member of House Raith. She first appears in Blood Rites. Description Lara Raith is the eldest of the living Raith children and is in charge of House Raith. Lara is the daughter of Lord Raith. She is an older sister to Thomas and Inari Raith. Two further sisters are Elisa and Natalia Raith. They live on the Raith estate. Her cousins are: Madrigal and Madeline Raith.Turn Coat, ch. 25 She was briefly married to a man named Romany. She later used the name Lara Romany in public.Blood Rites, ch. 15 Harry Dresden describes her as dark-haired, curling and glossy, so dark it almost looked blue in the highlights; creamy-skinned, with dark pink lips a bit large for her narrow face but not detracting. Her eyes are the real "killers", large, oblique, grey with flecks of periwinkle blue, alive, alert, aware of others, intelligent and held humor. There was also smoldering demonic fires and predatory hunger. Lara Raith is described as being incredibly sensual and extremely lethal. Her strong personality and willpower allow her to gain power among the White Court. Lara is very ambitious and seeks to further her position. As the result of picking up a wedding ring, she has a crescent shaped scar. According to Thomas Raith, she is very resourceful and gifted with removing obstacles.Changes, ch. 24 Lara is perhaps the most dangerous of the White Court members, a master manipulator, conspirator and seductress. Above all else, her word is always honest;White Night, ch. 35 she will go to extreme lengths to preserve her word. Since secretly taking over from her father she has ended all threats to his position of power, removing the leaders of the other two houses.White Night, ch. 42 Lara has a different administration style from her father's. She would pick skilled subordiates and allow them freedom to operate. Security at the Raith estate has greatly improved. Harry Dresden suspects that she could make a more powerful and skilled enemy than her father. In the series ''Blood Rites'' In Blood Rites, Lara Raith enthrallssd her father, keeping him as a puppet, and becoming the power behind House Raith's throne; she is essentially in control of the whole White Court.Blood Rites, ch. 41 ''White Night'' In White Night, she pushes for a peace effort between the Red Court and White Council for unknown reasons, but thanks to the White Court's nature to be backstabbing schemers and traitors, this is unlikely to be for the benefit of either the Council or the Red Court.White Night, ch. 30 There's a coup in the works by the other White Court houses: House Malvora and House Skavis. Lara does a lot of manipulating in indirect ways to get Harry's help including getting Thomas to promise not to speak to Harry. She teams with Harry Dresden to help take down the traitors after Harry and Carlos Ramirez duel with Madrigal Raith and Vittorio Malvora at a White Court meeting held in the Deeps. There, she also shows the capabilities she has in a fight where she and Thomas single handedly stop cold a group of charging uber-ghouls.White Night, ch. 35-42 After the battle of the Deeps, Harry suggests that it was Lara who planned the whole thing, the hunt for magic folk with the Skavis and manipulate Lady Cesarina Malvora in order to manipulate the other two houses to make their move agains House Raith in a way that she could control. In exchange for silence, Harry gets Lara to: provide a weregild for the families of those lost practitioners, a promise to never target magic-users again and the release of the captive Wee Folk in Harry's name. ''Backup'' In "Backup", Lara informs Thomas Raith about his new assignment in the Oblivion War and that his failing to take it up would have severe consequences.Backup "Even Hand" In "Even Hand", she is mentioned ordering Justine to steal some documents from King Corb."Even Hand" ''Turn Coat'' In Turn Coat, Dresden and Anastasia Luccio investigate the White Court's mental tampering of their lawyer Evelyn Derek.Turn Coat, ch. 24 While there, the Naagloshii attacks, kills and injures many, including Justine and Luccio and Lara's two sisters: Elisa and Natalia. Shagnasty has Thomas and wants to trade Morgan or he'll torture and kill everyone Dresden and Lara care about.Turn Coat, ch. 25-26 Dresden informs Lara that Madeline Raith is the one who tampered with Derek's mind and behind the Binder's hit on him and also the skinwalker's attack—she is a puppet. They agree to work together to trace the stings back to the source, take down Shagnasty and get back Thomas.Turn Coat, ch. 27 Harry and Lara: the money deposited in Morgan's account came from Lara's dummy corp by Kevin Aramis sans Lara's knowledge. If The Council found that, there may be war. They're bein played against each other. Harry tells what he knows about Madeline, probably killed Aramis. And she hired Binder.Turn Coat, ch. 37 ''Changes'' In Changes, Thomas Raith suggests enlisting Lara's aid in finding Maggie. Harry resists letting her in too close. Thomas says she'll want to protect him now that he's highly regarded in the White Court after the Battle of the Deeps. Later, she arranges fo rthe US Navy to airlift Thomas, Molly Carpenter and Mouse out of Chichén Itzá and to safety aboard a naval ship.Changes, ch. 49 ''Cold Days'' In Cold Days, Thomas updates Dresden: Lara and Marcone are uneasy allies against the Fomor. The two of them are part of the Brighter Future Society, or Chicago Alliance. Dresden and Marcone are the only two men turning down going to bed with her, which annoys her. Lara has also helped fight back the Fomor in other cities with the help of the Paranet whose members can use computers. She dispatches a ready team when she hears about trouble somewhere—and simultaneously learns about the magical talent in other cities. She is also getting more involved in government, on which she wants more control.Cold Days, ch. 19 Dresden hexes her spying bugs in Thomas's apartment.Cold Days, ch. 20 Relationship with Harry Dresden After the events of Blood Rites, Harry Dresden and Lara are currently locked in a stalemate as Dresden that knows the White King has become a mere figurehead and Lara knows Thomas Raith is Harry's half-brother. Despite the growing hostility between them, there appears to be a great deal of respect as well, in particular from Lara for Dresden's own skills at manipulation and deduction. Besides, Harry helped her gain more power within the court. In White Night, Lara offers Dresden a chance to work for her, and Harry once again turns her down. She repeats the offer in Turn Coat and when faced with death from the Council, he seems to actually consider it. To escape the explosion of Deeps, Harry powers his shield by kissing Lara. After they are out, Lara's lips are burned. She expresses chagrin that he's still protected by love, though he has not been involved with woman for four years. In Turn Coat, Lara tells Harry that the way to control someone is by giving them what they want. Lara offer Harry: curcease and peace. "I can take away the pains of the mind and the body and the heart. I can give you something no one else can—freedom from you but burdens of responsibility and conscience. Sweet Dresden. I could give you peace. Imagine closing your eyes with no worries, no pain, no fears, no regrets, no appetites, and no guilt. Only quiet darkness and stillness and my flesh against yours. I can give you that. You wear your pain like a suit of armor. But one day it will be too heavy to bear. And you will remember this moment. And you will know who can give you what you need." Other details In Turn Coat, Lara loans Dresden a Rolls Royce Silver Raith, circa WWII (vintage is Harry's guess). She tells him to bring it back with a full tank.Turn Coat, ch. 28 Toot-Toot calls her the Lady with the Cold Eyes. He and all the Wee Folk of Chicago feel beholden to Harry Dresden for freeing many of them or their kin from her captivity.Turn Coat, ch. 38 In Small Favor Toot-Toot uses the phrase: Pale Hunters.Small Favor, ch. 5 Quotes Lara: “I am glad to see you survived, wizard. You who destroyed my father and secured my own power, you who have now destroyed my enemies. You are the most marvelous weapon I have ever wielded. I love peace, wizard. I love talking. Laughing. Relaxing. I will kill your folk with peace, wizard. I will strangle them with it. And they will thank me while I do.” Harry: “Not while I'm around.” ---- “We labored centuries to cultivate this herd. I will not abide a horde of toady, has-been poachers.” ~Lara, concerning her reasons for fighting the Fomor. References External links *Simon Cars - Rolls-Royce Wraith *Rolls-Royce Silver Wraith - Wikipedia Category:Recurring characters Category:Raith family Category:Venatori Category:Chicago Alliance/Brighter Future Society Category:Blood Rites Category:White Night Category:Turn Coat Category:Changes Category:Cold Days Category:Backup Category:General